DUBAI--The provost of Zayed University has promised to tackle claims of plagiarism, lowering of standards and bullying made by disgruntled lecturers and students. Staff at the state university have been using the recruitment website Glass Door to voice their frustrations about the institution, which has campuses in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, scoring it 1.7 out of 10. Speaking anonymously to The National, they also said redundancies, cuts to overtime pay and housing allowances as well as increases to class sizes and work load have contributed to unhappiness, while students complained of rife plagiarism and standards “like high school”.

Prof Abdalla Al Amiri, who has been in the role for almost a year, said he was bringing in procedures to better handle staff dissatisfaction, including setting up an anonymous online portal where lecturers can air any issues publicly. “We’re encouraging people to speak out,” said Prof Al Amiri. “We realise there are issues and we have to be transparent. We have a new president and there has been transition this past year. For this alone, people have felt unsettled.”

In the first three months of the year, 262 complaints were made anonymously online about the university. That number has since increased to 565. One teacher claimed that entry standards for students had been reduced to increase numbers and gain more funding from the government. “It used to be that students needed around a 70 per cent high-school average to come here but now it’s down to just 50. Class sizes have gone up, from around 18-20 to closer to 30 and this impacts on the quality of teaching. “Being a federal university, the more students they have the more funding they get, so it’s all about finances.”

Prof Al Amiri said the issue of staff shortages was being resolved. “I am in the process of hiring 90 new academics, so this is being addressed. The cap is 24 students per classroom.” The provost admitted there had been complaints made about several deans as well as other senior management and administration and said cases were being investigated.

One teacher who has worked in Abu Dhabi and Dubai claimed she had been bullied for two years. “We are made to feel that we are in fear of our jobs constantly, accused of things that didn’t happen, like being rude to students. “It’s a culture of fear and I have been humiliated, threatened with having my classes monitored. It has become untenable.” Although about 10 people in university college were given six months’ notice that their contracts would not be renewed, Prof Al Amiri said this was “normal turnover”.

Teachers complained about increases to their course load from four to five a term, with those doing research struggling to balance that with teaching. Prof Al Amiri, however, said this was based on national and international standards. “This is normal for any institution. For those staff doing research and PhDs, they only teach three to four classes, but those with only masters degrees are in teaching roles.”

One student claimed that plagiarism was “rife” with standards at the university “like high school”. He said: “People just don’t take the courses seriously. When everything is made so easy for them from the start, they never want to be challenged.” Prof Al Amiri said universities the world over struggle with this issue and that action was being taken. “I cannot police everyone,” he said, adding that he was trying to change the culture of education at the institution. “This is not a school; it’s a university, and we need students to understand this.”

Prof Abdalla Al Amiri, who has been in the role for almost a year, said he was bringing in procedures to better handle staff dissatisfaction, including setting up an anonymous online portal where lecturers can air any issues publicly. “We’re encouraging people to speak out,” said Prof Al Amiri.

DUBAI // Zayed University’s international accreditation with the Middle States Commission is under scrutiny after its inspectors found “several areas of concern” on their review visit, although the commission emphasises that such monitoring is “a somewhat routine occurrence”. Last June, the US commission’s official statement ordered the university to address areas such as leadership, administration and resources for students.

Zayed University has until September 1 to return its updated self-study report, after Middle States said that further steps must be taken to “periodically assess the effectiveness of institutional leadership and governance, assure continuity and stability of institutional administration, document an organised and sustained assessment process with sufficient simplicity, practicality, detail and ownership to be sustainable and strengthen library/learning resources”.

The federal institution was first accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools on June 26, 2008, and subsequently had to submit self-studies five years later and then at 10-year intervals.
Middle States is a voluntary, non-profit association that aims to provide educational excellence and improvement through peer evaluation and accreditation. Following the submission of the self-study after five years, a team of evaluators is sent to the institution for two and a half days to conduct interviews with students, academics, staff, administrators and trustees to verify the contents of the report. The self-study process typically takes an institution two years to complete and is designed to verify institutional compliance with the commission’s 14 accreditation standards and to help improve the institution by identifying weaknesses and developing ways to remedy those weaknesses. While the commission last year reaffirmed Zayed’s accreditation for a five-year period, it has stipulated that the subsequent monitoring report must be submitted.

The university has had a revolving door of leadership in recent years, from its president and vice president to its provosts. Some staff have expressed a degree of uncertainty after several members of the finance department were recently made redundant. One teacher said: “Lots of people don’t know if they are coming or going. “Transparency is key to good governance and a lack of transparency creates this climate of uncertainty. Autonomy should always be counterbalanced by transparency.”

A spokesman from the commission, however, said the university’s accreditation was not in jeopardy. He added: “Because Zayed University is still relatively new and has only been accredited by the commission for the past five years, the commission has requested a report on how the institution is progressing in the areas of leadership, governance, assessment and learning resources. “These are all key areas within the commission’s 14 accreditation standards. It is important to stress that Zayed’s accreditation is not in jeopardy. The requested monitoring report is a somewhat routine occurrence within the commission’s multi-part accreditation processes.”

Another staff member at the university who had been involved in the re-accreditation process said he was unaware of the issue. “I had no idea we were under pressure but it does not surprise me,” he said. “No one here is happy.” He added that: “Good faculty and staff are leaving and almost everyone has multiple CVs out. “The appointment of the new president and her visit gave us great hope but it will take a long time for her goodness and competence to trickle down to us.”